Vote Yes on Prop 24

Yes on Proposition 24: The Tax Fairness Act

Join this important effort to repeal special tax breaks for big corporations that don’t create or save a single job in California. A Yes vote on Proposition 24 keeps class sizes smaller, fund children’s healthcare and keep in place the safety net for the elderly and vulnerable.

With your support, we can secure $1.3 billion in funding by closing unfair corporate tax loopholes for a few big corporations.

Proposition 24, the Tax Fairness Act, ends $1.3 billion in special tax loopholes for big corporations that don’t require the creation or protection of one single job in California.

Proposition 24 ensures that a few big corporations pay their fair share of state taxes at a time when state is making drastic budget cuts to public schools, health care and public safety.

Proposition 24 doesn’t hurt California’s small businesses, it ensures tax fairness so big corporations have to play by the same rules as the rest of us.

What Proposition 24 does:

The initiative repeals a law that would allow businesses to shift operating losses to prior tax years and that would extend the period permitted to shift operating losses to future tax years.

It repeals a law that would allow corporations to share tax credits with affiliated corporations.

It also repeals a law that would allow multistate businesses to use a sales-based income calculation, rather than a combination property-, payroll- and sales-based income calculation.

Proposition 24 prevents tax giveaways to large corporations that won’t create a single job in California.

Proposition 24 prevents tax giveaways given to California’s largest corporations with no guarantees that a single job would be created or saved in California. Corporations could still send jobs overseas or to other states.

Proposition 24 ensures everyone is paying their fair share. Tax giveaways to large corporations put an even bigger burden on California families. When big corporations pay less, you and your family pay more.

The big corporations that are paying to defeat Proposition 24 and get these tax giveaways made over $65 billion in profits last year and are paying their CEOs over $8.5 billion, while at the same time laying off over 100,000 workers.

Proposition 24 does not raise taxes on businesses.

Proposition 24 does not raise taxes on businesses as none of these tax breaks have gone into effect. Voting Yes on Prop 24 will keep taxes for large corporations at their current level.

Ninety-eight percent of California’s businesses – especially small businesses – would get virtually no benefit from these tax breaks at all. They only benefit about two percent of California’s largest corporations.

Proposition 24 prevents more budget cuts to schools and public safety, and saves thousands of much needed jobs.

Proposition 24 prevents more than $1.3 billion from being cut from our public schools, colleges, healthcare, public safety and other services.

Proposition 24 prevents more than half a billion dollars from being cut from public education every year. California public schools have been cut $17 billion over the last two years. 30,000 educators have were laid off, class sizes have increased, education programs like art and music and vocational education eliminated, and college tuition increased more than 30 percent just last year alone, while corporations received $1.3 billion in future tax breaks.

Voting Yes on Proposition 24 saves more than 20,000 jobs, by preventing the layoffs of teachers, firefighters, police, paramedics, and nurses in every corner of the state.

Proposition 24 repeals a $1.3 billion backroom deal cut by Sacramento politicians and corporate lobbyists with no public hearings or input. These same corporations make large campaign contributions to these politicians.

Instead of cutting taxes for California families or small business, the politicians in Sacramento followed their campaign contributions and voted to cut taxes for the largest two percent of corporations in the state.

Big corporations get these tax giveaways without creating jobs in California, and can keep the money to spend on CEO bonuses just like Wall Street.

Proposition 24 ensures tax fairness so big corporations have to play by the same rules as the rest of us.

A Yes vote on Prop. 24, the “Tax Fairness Act,” ends $1.7 billion in special corporate tax loopholes that don’t require the creation or protection of one single California job. Vote Yes because we need jobs, not more big corporate tax loopholes!

During the recent state budget disaster, legislators and big corporations cut a deal behind closed doors which raises your taxes. That deal with legislators included $18 billion in tax hikes for you and huge tax breaks for big corporations. These same corporations made no guarantees that a single job would be created or saved to get this handout. That’s why these tax breaks should be repealed. A Yes vote on Prop. 24 will end this bad deal.

If you’re worried that Prop. 24 would hurt California’s small businesses, don’t fall for those scare tactics. Here are the facts:

Prop. 24 will end tax loopholes that unfairly benefit less than 2% of California’s businesses that are the wealthiest, multi-state corporations. 98% of California’s businesses, especially small businesses, would get virtually no benefit from the tax breaks.

Corporations that are paying to defeat Prop. 24 and keep these loopholes are paying their CEOs over $8.5 billion, and made over $65 billion in profits last year, while at the same time laying off over 100,000 workers.

By voting Yes on Prop. 24, we can keep the Legislature from making even deeper cuts in public schools, health care and public safety. During last year’s budget disaster, the Legislature made $30 billion in cuts that resulted in 16,000 teacher layoffs, and put 6,500 prisoners back on the street. But they gave corporations $1.7 billion in tax breaks. Prop. 24 will make big corporations pay their fair share and put $1.7 billion back into the treasury for our students, classrooms, police and fire services and health care we really need.

These unfair corporate tax loopholes put an even bigger burden on the average individual taxpayer. At the same time the Legislature gave corporations $1.7 billion in tax breaks every year, they RAISED $18 billion in taxes on people like you.

Our founding fathers were very much in favor protecting all of its citizens. From Abraham Lincoln to George Washington to John Adams, they resented the fact of tax loopholes for the ultra-wealthy. It is un-American to avoid to avoid paying taxes. As John Adams bravely stated once: “Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people; and not for profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men; therefore, the people alone have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to institute government; and to reform, alter, or totally change the same, when their protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness require it.” You can find traces of his legacy on a tour of his home for an instead, feel-good, patriotic boost.

Republicans have joined Democrats in support of Prop. 24 because it stops Sacramento from using our tax system to play favorites. When Sacramento politicians passed targeted tax cuts last year, they were saying big corporations deserve a tax break, but average Californians don’t.

Vote Yes on Prop. 24 to ensure tax fairness so big corporations have to play by the same rules as the rest of us.

Instead of creating unfair tax loopholes for giant out–of–state corporations, we could be giving tax incentives to California’s small businesses that actually create jobs for Californians. Vote Yes to help our small businesses and put $1.7 billion back into the treasury to help our students, schools and public safety.

Voting Yes on Prop. 24 tells the Legislature to get its priorities straight by putting schools and public safety ahead of tax loopholes for corporations.

What does Proposition 24 do?

Prop 24 ensures that a few big corporations pay their fair share of state taxes. It repeals three special corporate tax loopholes that were handed out to big corporations without any requirements to create or keep a single job:

Loss-Carryback: Corporations will get refunds for taxes paid in past years by writing off new losses.

Sharing Tax Credits: Corporations that get tax credits for things like research and development or alternative energy will be able to cash those credits in on reducing taxes on profits that have nothing to do with those efforts.

Single Sales Factor: Corporations that do business in other states will have two different formulas for computing their taxes and will be allowed to use whichever formula would require them to pay less in taxes in California.

Why should I support Proposition 24?

California is facing another massive state budget shortfall. Big corporations need to pay their fair share. Prop 24, the Tax Fairness Act, ends $1.3 billion a year in special corporate tax loopholes that don’t require the creation or protection of one single California job. During the recent state budget disaster, Sacrament politicians and big corporations cut deals behind closed doors that raised your taxes by $18 billion, but gave big corporations a $1.3 billion tax break each year. If these loopholes are not closed before they go into effect in 2011, they will cut corporate taxes in California by nearly 15 percent and not create or save a single new job in California.

What will funds secured from Proposition 24 be used for?

Prop 24 will help keep the Legislature from making even deeper cuts in public education, health care and public safety. During last year’s budget disaster, the Legislature made $30 billion in cuts that resulted in 16,000 teacher layoffs, college tuition hikes for students and put 6,500 prisoners back on the street, but gave corporations $1.3 billion in future tax breaks.

Will Proposition 24 cost California jobs?

No. Closing these loopholes will not cost California jobs because companies won’t lose anything they already have. These tax loopholes don’t take effect until 2011. There is no requirement that the corporations that receive the tax breaks must create or protect jobs in California. These corporations would still be allowed to outsource jobs to other countries and states.

In 2009 alone, the big corporations that are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to defeat Proposition 24 laid off over 100,000 employees. In the past few years, those same corporations paid their CEOs $8.5 BILLION.

What types of corporations get these tax breaks?

These tax breaks unfairly benefit less than two percent of California’s businesses and they are the state’s wealthiest multi-state and multi-national corporations. 87 percent of one of the tax breaks goes to .03 percent of the California’s corporations with gross incomes of more than $1 billion. Six multi-state corporations would get average tax cuts of $23.5 million each. Voting YES on Prop 24 ends these unfair tax breaks before they take effect. That’s tax fairness.

Will Proposition 24 hurt California’s small businesses?

No. 98 percent of California’s businesses, especially small businesses, would get virtually no benefit from the tax breaks.

Who supports Proposition 24?

A broad coalition of community, consumer, taxpayer and labor unions, including the California Teachers Association (CTA), California Nurses Association (CNA), CALPIRG, Consumer Federation of California, Congress of California Seniors, League of Women Voters of California, California Tax Reform Association concerned with tax fairness. The campaign is just beginning and outreach and support continues to grow.